


Hell

by naomin



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Rape, Torture, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:21:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2705417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naomin/pseuds/naomin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A piece of Levi's past catches up to him, with unimaginable consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hell

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written about three months ago, for a kink meme prompt that asked for Levi and Armin being captured and forced into having mutually non-consensual sex. 
> 
> This is EXPONENTIALLY more disturbing than anything else I've ever written, and I've been really unsure about reposting it, but I'm also even now kind of happy(???) with what I came up with, and I've been vaguely having the urge to write some kind of follow-up, for which kink meme format isn't really practical. 
> 
> I intended this to be set somewhere a few years in the future (in a future in which all the recent manga events don't result in any major changes to everyone's roles within the military, I guess), so Armin is not underage. (Like, late teens/very early 20s.) But his exact age isn't mentioned, and there are a few references to him looking young + he gets referred to as "boy" a lot (by people who don't know him), so be warned about that if that if that's something you'd like to avoid. Please read with care.

Levi isn’t sure how much time passes before the rough hood covering his head is finally yanked away. He vaguely remembers being hoisted over a man’s shoulder, carried joltingly down what had felt like a series of stairs, kicking out – someone must have knocked him out, at some point, because his head is aching awfully and many of the details of what's lead him to this point are out of his reach, gray and faint like a barely-remembered bad dream.  
  
Being able to see again at last does him little good.  A cursory glance around reveals that he’s in a filthy, dark, little room - likely underground, judging by the mold that festers on much of the walls. Even before he’s finished sizing up his surroundings his body is already tensing, trying to ready for a fight, and so the second thing Levi registers about his circumstances is that he’s been seated in some kind of chair. It’s wood, damp – _disgusting_ – but dishearteningly large and sturdy, and his arms and legs are bound with so much rope that he can barely even wiggle them.  
  
Levi is aware of these things, then of the fact that he is completely unarmed - even missing the blades he’s made a habit of keeping hidden around his body since he was little more than a child - and it’s only after all of this that his attention finally shifts to his captors.  
  
He can see three of them, standing in front of the door across from his chair. They’ve got the unmistakable look of city thugs, each one dirty and roughly dressed and looking ready for blood. The one in the center is probably the leader, Levi guesses. The other two are massive and intimidatingly scarred, hired muscle if he’s ever seen it. The man in the center is wearing clothing that looks as if it’s meant to impress, even though it’s been worn to tatters in some places, and he looks nastily satisfied with himself as he watches Levi watching him.  
  
Even after years away from the streets, in the relatively comfortable and well-heeled world of the military, Levi understands that look, and these circumstances, all too well. His head throbs.  
  
“Awake at last!” the man in the center exclaims, smiling so widely that Levi can see that a few of his teeth are rotting. Definitely the leader.  
  
Levi winces at the sound, fighting back the urge to groan. His mind is racing inside his aching skull. He’s trying to make some sense of what’s going on, but things won’t quite come together. He can’t recognize any of these men, can’t even understand how he got here. A memory slides into focus – walking through a crowded street in the sunlight, on his way to a meeting of some kind or another, but then what? And how long ago had that been?  
  
While he’s been thinking, the man – Leader, Levi mentally dubs him – has stepped closer, seemingly annoyed by Levi’s silence. Levi doesn’t pay him any attention, until the man reaches out and fists a hand Levi’s hair, yanking his abused head back so roughly that Levi can feel himself pulled against the bonds on his hands and feet. Even though Levi can’t place Leader, he already understands him well enough, or at least men like him. To give in, to show weakness to someone like him, is to lose everything, Levi knows, but he can’t stop a hiss of pain from escaping.  
  
“The fuck are you?” he grinds out, jaw clenched. Levi’s never found conversation to be helpful in situations like this, but the other man’s already broken the ice, more or less, and Levi really does need some answers.  
  
“No questions from you,” Leader says, giving Levi’s head a shake that feels as if it goes all the way down his spine. Pain makes his eyes watery. “You don’t talk unless we say so, _humanity’s strongest_.”  
  
The last word is in said in an exaggeratedly mocking drawl. They know who he is, Levi thinks. He hadn’t really still believed that this was a random attack, not with all the effort that seems to have gone into it, but this clears things up, at least.  
  
It should make it easier to figure things out, knowing that this is apparently about some kind of grudge, but the inestimably large number of people who Levi can imagine might enjoy tying him to a chair and smacking him around for a while doesn't do much to clear up the situation. Levi could laugh, if he wasn’t currently distracted by the haze of pain in his head and an incredibly vivid fantasy of pulling out Leader’s disgusting teeth one by one.  
  
Leader lets his head drop, mercifully, and steps back a little. There’s a long moment of silence. Levi redoubles his efforts at testing the ropes keeping his hands tied to the arms of the chair, and Leader watches him, frowning when it becomes clear that Levi isn’t interested in trying to argue. “Do you know who I am?” Leader snarls at last.  
  
Levi wants to groan again, not out of pain this time. That’s another thing that he’s always known to be true about men like this, they were always so fucking _stupid_. “ _No_ , you sack of shit,” he spits out, exasperation letting his temper get the better of him. “I don't know who the hell you all are or what problem you have with me, but if you’ve got something to want to say, _say_ it and stop wasting our damn time.”  
  
Leader’s face flushes with anger, and Levi braces himself for a blow. It never comes, though. The man’s expression stays dark, genuine hatred breaking through his bravado for the first time, but he clenches his hands behind his back. “As cocky as ever,” he says. “You never did know when to keep your mouth shut, Levi, and sooner or later it’s going to get you in trouble.” The dramatic, self-satisfied tone has returned.  
  
“Huh.” Levi doesn’t care who these people are, or what exactly it is that he’s done to piss them off, but his seeming lack of options is starting to really sink in now, enough to set his mind racing in a way that Leader’s clichéd threats don’t. Escape is looking decidedly unlikely, in his current situation, and with his arms and legs tied there won’t be much he can do if Leader and his friends get tired of talking and decide to get down to business. But if he can hold on…If his vague memories are correct, and he really has been jumped on his way to attend to some business, his absence will be noticed soon. If someone raises the alarm, the whole military will be looking for him, and surely a handful of low-lifes like this won’t be able to keep him hidden. He’ll just have to stick it out and hope for the best. It’s far from ideal, and Levi’s mentally cursing himself for allowing this to happen in the first place – has he really gotten so soft, off the streets for so long? – but not undoable, and at least he can take solace in the observation that neither Leader or his friends seem to have any real weapons on them at the moment.  
  
So, a beating and some time spent forced to listen to an insufferable, disgusting, idiot with some kind of bone to pick with him, and then maybe some teasing afterwards for getting captured so easily by a few petty criminals. He’s had worse. Levi grinds his teeth, settling himself in the chair as comfortably as his bonds will allow, and gets ready to wait.  
  
Leader is still talking, pacing back and forth and lecturing about some slight Levi apparently dealt him back in his days on the street. Levi listens, for a few seconds, but loses interest quickly. He still can’t remember this man, or the exact incident in question. Both then and now, whether facing gangsters in an alley or monsters outside the walls, focusing on old skirmishes has always seemed pointless to him, a distraction from the new threats that always loom just ahead.  
  
“…And now they stick you in a uniform, call you a hero!?” Leader finishes up. He comes to a stop standing back on front of Levi’s chair. “Well, I haven’t forgotten, Levi. And in fact, that’s just going to make this all the more satisfying.”  
  
Rose and Sina, this man is _boring_. “Hope you’re still feeling satisfied when you’re getting swallowed whole,” Levi drawls, allowing himself to talk back for a moment even though he knows there’s little point. “It’s because I’ve got that uniform that all you fucks are still alive, you might have heard. I’d keep that in mind if I were you.”  
  
He had expected Leader to get angry at this, maybe hurt him some more, so it’s more unnerving than Levi would like to admit when the man just smiles at him. “Oh, I am,” Leader says. He reaches over and ruffles Levi’s hair in a theatrically patronizing gesture – Levi finds that this hurts much less than when the man had grabbed him before, but makes him feel infinitely angrier – then leans close enough that Levi can smell his stinking breath.  
  
“Don’t worry,” Leader continues. “You’ll still be able to fly just as good as before, when we’re done with you.” One hand slides like a spider over Levi’s shoulder and down between his back and the chair, resting over the crest on the back of Levi’s jacket. He’ll really have to wash his uniform when this is all done, Levi thinks.  
  
Then Leader’s words sink in, and he must be just a little too slow to hide his confusion, because Leader’s smile gets even wider.  
  
“Do you want to know what we’re going to do?” Leader’s learned not to waste time waiting for Levi to play along, or maybe he’s just letting his own excitement get the better of him, because without giving Levi any time to reply he turns around to address one of the two bigger men still waiting at the side of the room. “Now,” he says, nodding pointedly.  
  
The thug’s ugly face spreads into something that’s possibly meant as a smile, and he nods back, understanding, before walking out of the the room. Levi strains his eyes trying to peer into the hallway that opens up through the door, but it doesn’t do much good – just a rough passage, light from a torch gleaming against moisture on the walls and floor.  
  
An uneasy silence descends upon the room where Levi and the other men wait, broken only by the sound of Ugly’s footsteps growing quieter, disappearing, and then slowly growing louder again. Leader is still visibly proud over Levi’s moment of uncertainty, a small triumph, and it makes him even more insufferable.  
  
The light is so bad that even though Levi can see through the door and down the hall, it takes quite some time for him to make sense of what he sees as Ugly returns. He has something with him, Levi notices first, then he realizes that it’s a person, small and slight and practically being dragged by the bigger man.

 

 

 

It’s not until they’re practically through the doorway that Levi can finally see who it is. Another memory clicks horribly into place – he _had_ been out on some business earlier, on that bright, busy, street that now seems as distant as a dream, and now he can remember that he hadn’t been alone.

Armin Arlert is standing before him, almost hanging from where Ugly’s got one meaty fist gripped tightly around his arm. Levi can’t see any injuries, but it takes only a glance to realize that something is very, very wrong. Armin’s swaying on his feet unsteadily, reacting far too little to the circumstances he and Levi have ended up in. The men – the absolute sacks of _horseshit_ , who Levi’s deciding that he’s going to hurt very badly indeed after this is all over – don’t have Armin tied up at all, but it’s clear that isn’t necessary.

Levi puts every effort into keeping his face blank, ignoring the nauseatingly cocky smile that Leader gives him as Armin is lead into the room, but his mind is racing. Things have gone from bad to worse, now that Armin’s here too. Even scum with a serious grudge against Levi might think twice before injuring the man widely known as one of the human race’s last hopes too seriously, but an indistinguished young soldier like Armin will get no such consideration. And Armin is far less equipped to deal with whatever kind of pain their captors are capable of dishing out, especially in his current state.

“Picked this one up at the same time as you,” Leader explains proudly. He takes Armin’s chin in one dirty hand, lifting it. Armin’s eyes are blank and glassy, pupils unnaturally large. He offers no resistance. He must be drugged, Levi realizes. “Such a shame,” Leader continues, shaking his head in mock dismay. “You’re really sending ones this young off to die, Levi? He’s hardly more than a child.”

Armin is no child, not least after everything Levi knows he’s seen during his years as a soldier, but he does look small and achingly vulnerable now, standing there limply with his brow creased ever so slightly, as if he’s struggling to comprehend his surroundings.

“He’s Survey Corps,” Levi says slowly and deliberately, hoping against hope that his words can do something. “The government’s not going to let it stand if a couple of scumbags try to mess with with an elite soldier, touch him and you’re dead.” This is probably a lie, as far as Levi knows – Armin and his kind are most likely just as disposable off the battlefield as on – but if he can make them believe it…

Leader laughs, delighted. “You’ve changed after all, Levi! Who would have thought you’d ever care so much about what the government wants? But don't worry.” He tilts Armin’s chin to the side, letting the torch light fall on his smooth, flushed, cheek. “I’d be stupid to damage such a pretty thing, not when I know he’ll fetch a fine price for me like this.”

Levi grinds his teeth, testing his bonds until the chair creaks. He knows with nasty certainty that this part isn’t just bravado. Unlucky young people disappear into the city’s black markets all the time, and even though military living conditions are hardly luxurious, Armin is still unmistakably healthy and well cared for, a tempting target.

“Who knows?” Leader continues. “It could even be a selling point, him being a soldier. There are plenty of people in the city who’d like the military to get fucked.” He laughs at his own joke, and Ugly and the other thug chuckle indulgently.

Leader lets go of Armin, letting his head droop. He examines Levi’s face, and looks all too satisfied at what he sees there. “Does that make you angry, Levi?” he almost coos.

Levi’s had enough, he’s going to kill all three of these fucks the first _second_ he’s free, one by one, and then he’s going to get on the training grounds and find someone big to practice sparring with, until he’s sure something like this will _never_ happen again. He hadn’t realized just how soft he’s apparently let himself get, to be captured so easily… “Fuck you,” he growls, and it’s as much directed at himself as it is at the others.

Leader smiles brightly, before turning to address Ugly, who’s still holding on to Armin. “Strip the boy.”

“Yes, Boss.” Ugly’s smiling too, a grotesque look that makes his face even more unbearable than it already is. He releases Armin’s arm, spinning him around roughly until they’re facing each other, and then he yanks Armin’s shirt open effortlessly, sending buttons flying into the dark corners of the room. Armin says nothing.

Armin’s jacket has evidently gone missing sometime before he entered the room, and he’s not wearing any of the spiderweb of leather straps they use for their gear. ( _No field work for him today_ , some part of Levi’s brain observes. _Today is a safe day._ ) Ugly tosses Armin’s shirt to the ground in a gesture that reminds Levi unpleasantly of a hunter skinning his catch, exposing Armin’s hairless chest, skin pale and still unblemished even after years as a soldier.

When it’s clear that Leader wants him to continue, Ugly grins even wider, shifting Armin until he’s braced against him and Ugly can bend down to shuck off Armin’s pants and underwear in one merciless motion. Armin’s body tenses visibly at this, and his frown deepens even further. He rocks on his feet a little, put off-balance by the rough treatment and the clothing that’s now bunched around his ankles. He leans uncertainly into Ugly, trying to steady himself, and the thug accepts, letting one big hand slide over Armin’s exposed body and giving Levi a look that makes his stomach turn.

“I’ll kill you,” he says loudly. The words mean nothing, in his current state, and Levi knows this and knows that the other know it too, but he can’t stand it anymore. “You touch one fucking hair on his head, and I’ll kill you as slowly and painfully as I can, I _guarantee_ it-“

Leader strikes him across the face, not too hard, but enough to send Levi struggling to compose himself again for a moment afterwards. Meanwhile, Leader has turned his attention to Armin.

“What’s your name, boy?” he asks.

Armin had turned to look at them both when Leader hit Levi, watching with the same blankly concerned look. Levi doesn’t even know if Armin recognizes him, he realizes, so heavily drugged he seems to be. But now something shifts minutely on his face, as if being addressed is enough to pull him just slightly in the direction of lucidity. “Armin Arlert, sir,” he mumbles, voice soft.

“Armin? A fine name.” Leader’s face is a sick parody of an indulgent smile. “And you’re a good boy, aren’t you, Armin? A good little soldier?”

Armin frowns uncertainly – it seems that even in his current state he can sense the falseness in the way he’s being spoken to – but nods.

“Do you know who that is?” Leader asks, pointing at Levi and giving Armin a nudge when he looks unsure as to where he’s supposed to be turning his attention.

Armin’s gaze drifts lazily over Levi and the chair, and finally his dilated eyes lock with Levi’s own. A strange expression flits briefly across Armin’s face, as if he’s a sleeper in the middle of a bizarre dream. His mouth falls open. “I…”

“That’s your captain.” Leader is exaggerating his words, as if Armin is either very young or very simple-minded, but he finds the slow pace frustrating, he’s not showing it one bit. “Captain Levi. _Le-vi_.”

“Levi,” Armin repeats obediently. It’s impossible to tell whether or not the name means anything to him.

“And you want to be good for your captain, right, Armin? A good little-“

That's enough, Levi decides. He still isn’t quite sure where this is going – though he knows with rock-solid certainty that it’s not good – but if Leader’s trying to use Armin’s loyalties, two can play that game. “Armin!” he orders, straining forward as far as he can and pitching his voice to the insistent, commanding tone he’s used many a time on the field.

Armin’s reaction is immediate. His head snaps up, turning back to look at Levi in a motion that’s more deliberate than anything Levi’s seen from him before now. He still looks woozy and disoriented, but the look of concern on his face is clearer, now, and Levi can almost see the wheels struggling to turn inside his head.

“Listen to me,” Levi persists, heart pumping wildly within his chest. “You’re in danger, we have to-“ It’s the third man, the one who hasn’t done much so far, who hits Levi this time. He has red hair and large, merciless hands that grab Levi by the hair and knock his head back against the chair until there are bright specks of light dancing before his eyes.

“Next time I’ll gag you.” Leader says, giving Levi a look of annoyed distaste. He gently places a hand on Armin’s face, guiding his attention away from Levi.

“You’ll be good, won’t you, Armin?”

Unhappiness and confusion are still clear on Armin’s face, and for a moment it looks like he’s going to try to turn back to look for Levi again, but when Leader doesn’t allow it he nods, subdued.

Leader grins once more. “Excellent.”

 

 

Levi’s still trying to pull himself together, reeling from the newest blow to his head and the damning realization of just how bad of a situation he’s gotten himself – and _Armin_ – into, and so when Leader speaks next at first he wonders if he’s hearing things.

Red, the target of Leader’s newest order, looks equally confused. “What?”

“You heard me,” Leader repeats, impatient. “Take his pants off.”

“ _What?_ ” It’s Levi who bursts out, this time. Leader's insane, he’s sure of it, nothing the scumbag says is making any damn sense, and meanwhile Armin’s still standing there like some kind of stunned animal, and Ugly still has one hand resting far too low on his naked back, and the whole situation is approaching a full-blown _nightmare_.

Red still looks dubious, but he does as he’s told, gingerly reaching in to pull Levi’s own pants and underclothes as far as they’ll go. Levi’s recovered enough to put a burst of energy into trying to attack him, trying to resist, trying to do _anything_ , but it’s just as pointless as everything else has been so far, and Leader doesn’t even dignify the show of defiance with a reaction.

Instead, he guides Armin forwards, out of Ugly’s reach – _thank the gods,_ Levi thinks – and steadies him almost caringly as Armin struggles weakly to kick off his shoes and pants so that he can walk.

  
“Now, Armin,” Leader says sweetly, once Armin’s only a few feet away from where Levi sits, exposed and furious and doing his best to keep panic at bay, “It’s a soldier’s duty to serve his superiors, isn’t it?”

Armin nods again, with the same uncomprehending look on his face, but everybody else catches on immediately. Red looks alarmed and rather disgusted, Ugly’s eyes slide to Levi’s crotch in a way that’s sickeningly curious, and Levi is suddenly on fire with a strange, terrible, anger that he’s not quite sure if he’s ever felt before in his life.

“You foul son of a _bitch_ ,” he explodes, hands balling into shaking, useless, fists. “You _fucker_ , I’m going to-“

“Shut up.” Leader interrupts. The earlier gloating, the sickly cajoling way he had talked to Armin, it's all gone, replaced by something icy and deadly serious. Leader grasps Armin’s shoulders with both hands, ignoring Armin when he tries to shrug ineffectually away. “I’ll let _him_ have the boy, right here on the ground.” He jerks his chin in the direction of where Ugly is watching them, unabashedly entertained. “He won’t be gentle.”

Levi sags back against the chair, eyes closed. He feels sick.

Leader waits for a few seconds, until he’s assured that Levi has nothing more to say, and then turns his attention back to Armin. He guides him to the ground, adjusting his position until Armin’s more or less on his knees next to where Levi’s legs are bound to the chair.

“Do you know how to suck a cock, Armin?” he asks.

Armin says nothing. He’s resting his weight on heavily on one arm, as if it’s a struggle to keep his balance by himself, and he’s gazing curiously up at Levi, eyes wide and blank.

Levi twists his head away, can’t look at him.

“Pay attention,” Leader snaps. He bends down, grabbing one of Armin’s hands in his own and moving it none too gently to Levi’s limp cock. Levi hisses at the touch, skin crawling, legs twitching helplessly against the ropes holding him in place. “Take it…” Leader continues, “…and put it in your mouth. Can you do that, Armin?”

Armin is silent, brow furrowed, hand loosely wrapped around Levi. “Do it,” Leader orders, more forcefully this time, and Armin finally ducks his head forward, hair falling over his face. Levi feels a clumsy movement, warm and wet, and then Armin sits up again.

“What are you waiting for?” Leader demands.

“Do I have to?” Armin asks, voice slurred and plaintive. “This is weird.”

“Yes.” Leader’s patience with Armin sounds like it’s wearing thin, and Levi is torn between feeling feverishly hopeful – maybe he’ll get bored and give up, and all of this will be _over_ – and terrified about Leader might decide to try instead if he loses interest with this idea. “You want to please your captain, don’t you, Armin? Want to be useful?”

“I do…” Armin mumbles, clearly considering the man’s words as well as his disoriented mind will allow.

“Then do it,” Leader urges. “It’s okay, you’ll make him really happy.”

Armin hesitates for a few more seconds, frowning, but obeys. He bends down again, taking Levi in his open mouth.

“That’s it,” Levi hears Ugly grunt from the other side of the small room. “Suck it, you little slut.”

The words are ridiculously, pathetically, unfitting. Armin does practically nothing, just sits on the floor with Levi’s cock in his slack, open mouth. After a few seconds he slumps against one of Levi’s legs. He looks unspeakably tired, and his fine blond hair is soft against the exposed skin of Levi’s thigh.

Levi wants to vomit. His head is aching worse than ever before, and his body is cold against the soggy wood of the chair and sickeningly warm where Armin’s mouth is. He shuts his eyes. He can’t look at any of it, not these men, not Armin, not even his own body, which feels foreign and disgusting now.

“Is it good, Levi?” Leader purrs, and Levi glances up long enough to see that he’s come to stand by Levi’s side, staring down at him with triumph unmistakable on his face.

Levi says nothing. His mind feels numb. Leader’s expression sours, and he stoops down suddenly, grabbing the back of Armin’s head roughly and shoving him even closer to Levi. Armin startles as much as his weakened body can, one hand flying up to try and brace himself against Levi, and Levi is horribly aware of the muscles of Armin’s throat spasming around him.

Levi’s arms and legs have been bound to the point of immobility, but the rest of him isn’t completely restrained, and he’s able to lunge forward and bite at Leader’s neck as the man leans just a little too close, holding Armin in place. He can’t do any real damage – damn it, _damn_ it – but Leader jerks away. Released, Armin falls back, coughing miserably.

Leader stares at Levi in something like amazement, one hand on his neck. There’s an absolutely filthy taste in Levi’s mouth – his stomach feels even worse – but at the moment, he can imagine few things that would give him more pleasure than to gnaw right through this disgusting man’s neck, given the chance. His body is electric with adrenaline, so primed for a fight that right now he can barely worry about whether Armin’s going to be punished for Levi’s attempt at fighting back. He’s already resigned himself to a lot of things about this stupid, pathetic, nauseating situation, but Levi will die before he lets them use his own body to hurt Armin.

Red and Ugly have both stepped forward in alarm, but when Red, who’s closer, moves to hit Levi again – Levi notes this without feeling anything – Leader shakes his head. He’s silent for a moment, breathing hard and watching Levi with eyes that are now steely and calculating.

“Get him hard,” he says at last.

Red looks at Levi in dismay. Levi stares back, giving the bigger man what he hopes is the most bloodthirsty, deranged, look humanly possible. He flexes against the ropes again. He’s lost track of how many times he’s tried and failed to break free, but _maybe_ they could be loosening, _maybe_ he just needs a little more strength…

“Why does it have to be me?” Red complains. “I’m not some faggot like-“ He notices the way Ugly’s starting to look at him, and gulps. “…I don’t want to do it,” he finishes weakly.

“You want to get paid, don’t you?” Leader shoots back. _Please,_ Levi prays, even though he can’t remember a moment in his life when he’s ever given religion a single serious thought before. _Let them start fighting with each other, let them forget about us._

“Yeah,” Red agrees, still unhappy. “But you didn’t say it was going to be like…” He trails off, glancing pointedly around the scene in the filthy room: Levi tied to the chair with his pants and underwear bunched around his knees, Armin momentarily abandoned on the floor, and the other two men currently glaring at Red. “Make _him_ do it,” Red says at last, waving a hand in Armin’s direction in the manner of someone pointing out a pile of dog shit on their front steps.

Leader huffs. _Muscle for money always lets you down, in the end_ , Levi would tell him, in another reality where he’s still capable of taunts. _No matter what kind of crazy ideas you have, it’ll fall through sooner or later once you can’t pay people enough to put up with your shit_. This man was such a cruel, stupid, _idiot_ , _how_ could Levi have let himself end up at the mercy of someone like this?

“All right, all right,” Leader says sourly. “You, boy!”

Armin’s been staring dumbly at some point on the ground just in front of him, unmoving from where he had ended up after the earlier flurry of activity, but at the sound of Leader’s voice he looks up again, eyes struggling to focus.

“You heard him,” Leader snaps, and then adds, “Touch him. Make him hard,” when it’s obvious that Armin has no idea what’s being asked of him.

“Then can I stop?” Armin asks, whining like a tired child.

“Yes, you can stop after that, just _do_ it, damn you.”

Maybe the promise of respite gives Armin the motivation he needs, or maybe the drug is wearing off, but Armin’s able to get his bearings enough to do as he’s told. He crawls back between Levi’s legs and takes his soft cock in his hand once more, and without needing any more direction he starts to pump in short, jerky, motions. It lacks any kind of care whatsoever, and his hand is dry and scratchy with callouses against Levi’s skin.

It feels like the moment goes on forever. The thugs still appear to be in bad spirits, and all three of them are silent as they watch Armin and Levi. Levi concentrates pointedly on an empty corner of the room, willing his body to ignore what Armin’s doing. At one point his gaze flicks down to Armin’s face – just his face, Levi can’t bear to look anywhere else, can’t bear to think about Armin’s naked, defenseless body – and he sees that Armin’s brow is furrowed in concentration, small white teeth digging into his lower lip. His eyes don't meet Levi’s, and Levi feels overwhelmingly relieved, and then disgusted with himself.

_How much does Armin understand?_ Levi wonders aimlessly, even though it’s a line of thought that he doesn’t really want to pursue too closely. The effects of the drug that keeps Armin disoriented and unresisting still seem very strong. Perhaps Armin won’t remember any of this, when it’s all over. ( _And_ please, _let it be over soon_ , Levi thinks.) That would be a small stroke of luck, out of this awful situation.

Levi knows that he’s going to remember this day forever, no matter how long he lives or how badly he wants to forget.

Despite Levi’s efforts, and despite Armin’s lack of skill – _Has he ever even done this before?_ Levi thinks, before quickly realizing that’s very much something he’d rather not consider – Levi can feel his body slowly beginning to respond, cock hardening at the stimulation. He bites his own lip until it feels like the skin is about to break, trying to distract himself with the pain, even though it’s a laughably pointless gesture because his head is already throbbing with what feels like the worst headache of Levi’s life.

His body is a stranger, a traitor. Leader understands. He smiles again, for the first time in a while.

“You’re doing well, Armin,” he says, stepping forward – but carefully out of reach this time, Levi notes – and stroking Armin’s hair. Levi’s fingers twitch uncontrollably, desperate seeking a knife, a pair of eyes to gouge out.

“Really?” The praise seems to touch Armin, and he turns to look at Leader with a sickeningly vulnerable look in his eyes.

“Yes,” Leader agrees, his earlier coaxing tone back in place. “You’re being so good.”

“Oh,” Armin says slowly. “That’s…good?”

“Good little whore,” Ugly chimes in eagerly.

Levi can say nothing.

 

 

After another minute or two, Leader stops Armin and hoists him to his feet, gripping him underneath his arms like a careless child trying to pick up a cat.

Leader looks over his shoulder at the others. “Get over here, one of you.” His gaze slides over Red, frowning when it’s clear the big man is still unenthusiastic about the turn things have taken, but then Ugly steps forward readily and Leader gets back to business, satisfied. He passes an unresisting Armin to Ugly, and places his own hands on Levi’s hips, ignoring the way Levi thrashes at the touch. “Lift him,” Leader orders. “That’s right, over here…”

Armin’s body is manipulated until he’s on his knees on the chair, crouched over Levi. Levi pulls away automatically, pressing as flat against the back of the chair as he can manage in his current state. They’re much too close like this. Levi can’t stand seeing Armin the way he is now, exposed skin still painfully soft and defenseless despite everything Levi knows he’s been though, eyes too blank, absent the quick-wittedness that so defines Armin.

For all that Armin’s dwarfed by men like Red and Ugly, he’s still taller than Levi, and they make an awkward pair, the chair just big enough to hold both of them. Armin’s still struggling to keep his balance. He ends up tilting forward, hands fisting in Levi’s shirt, breath loud and hot at Levi’s ear.

“Listen to what you’re going to do next,” Leader instructs, pulling Armin back until he has his attention.

“You said I could be done,” Armin argues, sleepy and accusing.

“No, I didn’t,” Leader says crisply. Armin blinks, falling silent again in confusion. Leader reaches down between Armin and Levi, grabs Levi’s half-hard cock. “Now, Armin…” he starts.

“ _No!_ ” Levi roars. “You can’t do this, you _sick_ piece of _shit!_ ” Armin makes a small noise of surprise, jostled by the outburst so much that he has to tighten his grip on Levi’s shirt to keep from tipping over. Leader just watches Levi, smiling.

“Like this, Armin,” he says. Ugly lifts Armin up a little bit, adjusting his position, and Leader begins to guide Levi’s cock against him.

Levi screams wordlessly, slamming his head back against the chair so hard that he sees black for a second. It does no good, of course, and some numbly resigned part of himself knows that he needs to calm down, he’s risking injuring himself and frightening Armin, but he can’t control himself.

“Can you say, ‘Please fuck me, Captain'?” Ugly snickers, keeping Armin easily in place as Leader struggles with Levi.

Armin scrunches up his face. “ _What?_ ”

“Go on, say it.”

“Please,” Armin begins obediently. He’s looking straight at Levi, head lolling slightly to the side, and at this distance Levi has nowhere else to look but back at him. “Please.” Armin says again. Levi chokes back bile.

For all that Armin’s still limp and seemingly only half-conscious, he gives his first real attempt at resistance when they start to push him down onto Levi. A look of dismay grows increasingly more apparent on his face, and he tries to pull away, jabbing Levi with a bony elbow at one point as he struggles against the hands gripping him.

“ _Armin_.” Leader's voice is exasperated.

“I don’t…I don’t want this!” Armin protests. Levi can see the almost physical effort that it takes for him to string words together, let alone come up with an argument. “I don’t feel good, and you _did_ say I didn’t have to do anything more, you _said_ -“

Leader slaps him. Armin cuts off with a gasp, falling back against Ugly. Levi curses Leader and Leader’s ancestors violently, with a voice that’s rapidly going hoarse, but he might as well be in a different city for all the impact that it has.

Leader pauses for a second, frowning in frustration at Armin and Levi as he composes himself once more. The room is so quiet that the sound of Levi’s own ragged breath seems to echo.

“Armin,” Leader tries again, at last. His voice is cajoling again – something that looks like it takes a certain amount of effort on his part – as if he’s keeping in mind how Armin had responded to praise earlier. “You said you were going to be good, didn’t you?”

Armin says nothing, not looking up at him, though it’s impossible to tell whether this, too, is resistance, or whether Armin’s mind has simply faded out again. A perfect red handprint stands out starkly on his cheek.

“You want to be good. And do what we say.” The statement is somewhere between a question and an order.

“Yes,” Armin mumbles at last, defeated.

“That’s right.” Leader sounds a bit relieved. “And sometimes maybe that means doing things you don’t like, but that’s what good boys do, isn’t it? What good soldiers do?”

Armin nods minutely.

“You can’t be selfish or lazy, Armin,” Leader mock-scolds, confidence fully returned. “Captain Levi wouldn’t like that.” Levi doesn’t have to look at Leader to know that there’s a smug grin being directed at him now.

Armin shakes his head in agreement, expression heart-wrenchingly dismayed.

“Very good!” Leader crows. Levi has stopped struggling, so it’s easy for Leader to take hold of him again, and he and Ugly go back to work. Armin squirms, clearly uncomfortable, but doesn’t try to fight anymore.

Leader keeps talking all the while, pleased with himself for putting an end to Armin’s pitiful rebellion. “Sometimes something hurts a little…” he continues, voice nauseatingly patronizing as he gives Levi a few hasty strokes, getting his cock back to about as hard as it’s going to get, “…But later you realize that you've learned a good lesson from it in the end.”

He’s changed position a little, and Levi can see the way that Leader’s looking at him clearly now.

“Yes, a very good lesson,” Leader says again.

 

 

Armin is too tight. As the men first begin to push Levi’s cock inside of him he freezes up, and even though he’s been reprimanded for complaining, he lets out a high-pitched whine that makes Levi’s sore head throb.

“Should've given him more,” Ugly complains. He’s got one arm wrapped around Armin’s front. His other hand is holding him open.

“Want to turn his brain into mush, you idiot?” Leader snaps back. “Armin,” he cautions. “Remember, you said you’d do what we wanted.”

Armin is silent. His glassy eyes squeeze shut unhappily as he’s nudged slowly and painfully down onto Levi. Levi sees this, feels this, without really processing anything. His mind feels numb and every muscle in his body is somehow both far too on edge and utterly worn out.

Something gives, horribly. Armin makes the high-pitched noise again.

“Stop,” Levi says. His voice sounds hollow and somehow foreign. “Stop, you’re going to hurt him.”

“I think he’s hurting already,” Leader says, not even bothering to give Levi his full attention. It’s amazing, the part of Levi that’s watching all this with hopeless detachment thinks. Every time it seems as if things have gotten so exhaustingly awful that Levi should have no energy left to feel rage, he’s somehow always able to find a way.

Levi turns his eyes down, away from Armin’s face. Armin’s legs are shaking uncontrollably around Levi’s bare thighs, stuck in an awkward half-folded position.

“Armin.” The name slips out before Levi’s even aware that his lips have moved. It’s a pathetic shadow of the way he had called out to him earlier, but when Levi looks up again, hating himself for how badly he wants not to, he sees that he’s gotten Armin’s attention all the same. Armin’s peering down at him, eyes uncomprehending but focused intently on Levi. His pupils are still unnaturally large, so much that Levi can only see what seems like the barest ring of blue around them.

“Armin,” Levi repeats stupidly. Leader and Ugly have both stopped trying to force Armin further for the time being, watching Levi curiously instead. Levi’s mouth feels suddenly very dry. He doesn’t know what compelled him to speak up. Even if he could somehow get Armin to come to his senses, he no longer has any expectations that they can escape these people now, and, Levi realizes in a wave of disgusted horror, how will anything at all be improved if Armin’s able to fully understand what’s going on? His half-senseless state is a mercy at this point.

Armin’s still looking at him, head tilted questioningly. If he’s still in pain, he seems to have been distracted from it for now.

A different idea occurs to Levi. Armin really does seem to be more attentive to his voice than the others’, even though Levi still has serious doubts about whether Armin even knows him now. If he spoke to Armin, told him to be calm, that everything was fine, maybe that would make it easier for him…

That would make Levi just the same as the rest of these filthy, evil, creatures, trying to take advantage of Armin’s weakened and compliant mind. Levi feels sick with self-loathing for even considering it. He lets his mouth close again, swallowing shakily.

Leader looks bored and more than a little disappointed when it’s clear that Levi’s backed down. He nods for Ugly to continue, and together they push Armin down until he’s seated on Levi solidly enough that he doesn’t have to be supported anymore and they can let go. Armin flops forward, ending up pressed against Levi so that some of his hair gets in Levi’s mouth. Inside, Armin is too hot and too small, and slick with something that Levi realizes dully is surely blood, and Levi tries harder than he’s tried to do anything so far all day to block all these observations from his mind.

“Now what?” Levi hears Ugly ask after a moment or two has gone by.

“Have some patience. I’m not doing this for _you_.” Leader’s voice sounds faint and distant to Levi, almost covered up by the sound of Armin’s labored breathing. Levi hears a rustle of fabric, smells Leader’s rotten breath. He’s come very close, but Levi can’t bring himself to do anything any more, and so he just sits and listens as Leader speaks, voice low but urging.

“Armin?”

No reaction. Armin’s collapsed so heavily against Levi’s bound form that Levi almost thinks he can feel Armin’s heart pounding inside his skinny chest.

“Armin. Move.”

After a few seconds Armin tries, squirming weakly against Levi, before going still again. “Don’t want to,” he mumbles faintly.

“You have to. Remember what I said?” Leader’s tone is stern, a teacher disappointed with a promising but unmotivated pupil.

Armin slowly pushes himself up, bracing himself against Levi’s chest, and then stops there, shaking his head bewilderedly.

“ _Move_ ,” Leader repeats. “Move your hips, up and down. You know what to do, don’t you?”

“Ride him,” Ugly explains. His commentary is nauseating but no longer surprising. “Take his cock all the way, make him feel good.”

When Armin still hesitates, Ugly grabs him by the hips and jostles him roughly against Levi in the motion being demanded, as if he’s trying to mime dirty acts with a couple of dolls.

“ _Stop!_ ” Armin’s voice is unexpectedly loud and shrill this time, and he bats at Ugly’s hands feebly.

“Only if you can do it yourself.”

“All right,” Armin whines. “All _right_ , let _go_.” Ugly does, and Armin makes what’s probably the best effort he can manage, rocking shallowly against Levi for several agonizing seconds before giving up once more

“This is sick,” Red complains from the other side of the room. He seems disturbed enough to speak up again, or maybe he’s just emboldened by the fact that Leader and Ugly haven’t spared him a glance in quite some time now. “I want extra, when this is over.”

“Sure,” Leader agrees distractedly, eyes on Levi and Armin.

Even though part of him realizes that it’s despicable, cowardly, Levi currently wants nothing more than to forget what’s going on right now entirely. He tries to focus on a random point in the distance, tries to imagine that he’s somewhere, _any_ where else, but it’s impossible now, with Armin’s weight pressing him into the chair, Armin’s blood on his thighs.

“Why are you doing this?” he hears himself ask eventually.

Leader smiles widely, and it’s clear that he’s been waiting for something like this. “I told you, Levi,” he says. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this, for the day when I could finally make you break.”

“Armin,” Levi says dully. “He doesn’t have anything to do with…with whatever this is about, he’s just a soldier…”

“Oh, but he’s _your_ soldier, isn’t he?” Leader’s grin gets even wider. “Believe me, I don’t like being hard on the boy…” He reaches over to pat Armin’s shoulder. Armin cringes away, flattening himself even closer against Levi. “But maybe in the future you’ll think about the impact your… _transgressions_ might have on other people. And I _was_ serious, earlier, I’ll get a tidy sum off of him. Think of it as an extra fee for all the trouble I’ve had to go to.”

“Let him go,” Levi rasps. “Stop this and let Armin go, just…just even stop making him _do_ this, _fuck_ …“ His voice breaks pathetically. “...And you can do anything you want with me.”

“Oh?” From the look on Leader’s face, things have gone beyond even his wildest dreams. “Are you begging me? Levi Ackerman, the _terror_ of the streets, the _hope_ of all humanity?”

“Please.” If Levi has even a single shred of pride left to cling to at this point, he’ll gladly cast it aside in a second if it means that Armin, at least, can get out of this hell. “I’ll do anything, I swear.”

“Really?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Levi groans. “Let him go and you’ll get whatever you want.”

Leader is silent for a long moment, making a show of thinking deeply. Levi watches him stupidly. At last, Leader grins even more brightly than before, until Levi is sure he can make out every last one of his decaying teeth.

“I’m already getting what I want,” says Leader. He gives Armin a shove, grinding him cruelly against Levi. Armin wails.

 

 

Time limps on, incalculable, agonizing. It’s surely been not even a full hour since Levi first opened his eyes to this room – this _nightmare_ – but it feels like he’s been here for a lifetime already.

His captors seem to lose interest in this game now that Levi’s laid himself bare so easily, nothing left for them to drag out of him. Armin, too, seems to have reached the end of his abilities. Sometimes the men speak to him, try to goad him into fucking himself on Levi again, and Armin rouses himself dutifully before sliding back into oblivion after a few seconds. A few times, Armin lurches into action without any instruction, as if suddenly remembering he has a job to do, and that’s somehow far worse.

After a while, even Ugly grows bored with manipulating Armin, and he and Levi are left in a perverse kind of peace as the men talk amongst themselves. Levi doesn’t even try to pay attention to what’s being said. All his senses are taken up with Armin, a dead weight that feels much heavier than his slim frame should as he slumps against Levi. Levi has absolutely no idea how badly Armin’s body has been damaged by the violation that’s been forced on him, how much the drug that still seems to overwhelm his system is deadening any pain he’s in. Levi prays with every fiber of his being that Armin’s completely unconscious now, that he’ll sleep until it’s finally all over – _will it ever be over?_ – and Armin can wake up in a hospital somewhere, clean and clothed and with no memory at all of what’s taken place.

Levi’s gone soft long ago. It should be easy for Armin to let Levi’s limp cock slide out of him now, Leader and the others probably wouldn’t even notice, but Armin has nothing left. Levi considers trying to nudge Armin off himself, but the possibility of hurting Armin further is terrifying.

When they’re both out of here, as soon as he’s certain that Armin’s being cared for, the first thing Levi wants to do is take everything he’s wearing today and burn it to ashes, and then peel off his skin and burn that too. Levi’s never going to want sex again for as long as he lives, doesn’t even think he’ll be able to look at his own body without smelling Leader’s foul breath, feeling Armin breaking around him.

“What do you want us to do with him after this?” Red is asking, looking eager to be done.

Leader shrugs carelessly. “Just knock him out again and dump him somewhere. You can manage that, right?” His eyes slide to meet Levi’s over Armin’s shoulder. “But there’s no rush. Let him enjoy himself for a while longer.”

The taunt is noticeably halfhearted. Levi no longer feels anything when they mock him, not even if they say disgusting things about Armin, and he can tell that Leader’s realized this.

Armin stirs fitfully, making Levi hiss in surprise and discomfort. His cheek presses flush against Levi’s, and Levi can feel his lips struggling to work.

“Please…” Levi hears Armin say, before trailing off into something unintelligible. His voice is very quiet, and Levi’s sure that even he wouldn't be able to make out a single word if Armin wasn’t speaking practically into his ear thanks to their positions.

Armin tries again. The first thing Levi assumes is that his scattered mind has looped back to what Ugly said to him earlier, and Levi thinks with utter numbness that it’s somehow fitting for this nonsensically awful situation.

“Please let me stop,” Armin whispers. “It hurts.”

Eternities ago, when the men had first started to force Armin to touch Levi, Levi had wanted to be sick. Now he wants to die.

“I want double,” Red is saying, somewhere far away.

“ _Double?_ You're crazy, you haven’t even done anything.”

“Got him for you, didn't we?”

“Couldn’t have been that much of a job, look at him.” Leader says, taking Levi’s current condition in with a disdainful glance. “He’s not what I remembered at all. The fancy life’s made him weak.”

“I’ve been standing guard this whole time while you two did all that nasty shi- while you two worked,” Red complains.

“Fine, fine, I’ll give you a bonus, but not _double_ , what kind of money do you dumb shits think I’m made of?” Leader turns to Ugly, looking extremely put upon. “And what about you? You could have a turn with the boy later, as long as you aren’t too rough…”

Ugly spares a glance at Armin and Levi, and frowns. “He’s ruined, now,” he says, sounding disgusted and a little regretful.

There’s something wet on the side of Levi’s face where he’s pressed together with Armin. If one of them is crying, Levi hopes it’s him.

Armin’s body is stifling against his. Levi needs air. He adjusts himself as much as his bound limbs will allow, trying to shift Armin into an easier position. He’s as careful as he can be, but Armin tips right over like a doll or a corpse, almost going over the side of the chair.

“The boy’s going to fall,” Red observes disinterestedly.

Leader makes an annoyed sound. He opens his mouth, starting to order one of the other two to pull Armin up again, and then seems to decide that it’s not worth it. Instead he strides over to the chair himself. Levi senses his presence more than he sees it.

Fabric rustles, and then there’s a strange friction against Levi’s right arm, the one Leader’s standing by. It takes several seconds for Levi to recognize exactly what’s going on. Leader’s produced some kind of knife, short and none too sharp, judging by how slowly it’s cutting through the ropes that have kept Levi’s arm attached to the arm of the chair until now. Leader has to saw at them for what feels like a minute or two, but finally they fall away, blood flowing painfully back into Levi's arm.

Levi’s arm flops automatically up against Armin’s back, heavy and half-numb. He ignores the way his elbow and shoulder protest heavily, and tries to flex his fingers against the bumps of Armin’s spine.

“ _You_ keep him steady,” Leader instructs sourly, speaking as if everyone else has been hard at work and Levi’s been resolutely lazy.

Levi nods, only partially hearing him. Leader is examining him more closely now, as if it’s occurred to him that he may have done serious damage to Levi after all. After a few seconds he reaches out and takes Levi’s chin lightly in his free hand, tilting his head up in much the same way he had once done with Armin and peering at his face, brow furrowed.

Leader’s remembered to keep the knife angled carefully away from Levi, but he’s forgotten about Levi’s teeth. Levi lunges, for once not paying any attention to whether or not he disturbs Armin. His teeth sink blessedly deep into Leader’s forearm –flesh rips, salty blood floods his mouth – and as Leader screams in pain and tries to tug away, Levi’s unrestrained hand is able to stretch out and find the knife’s hilt.

Maybe Levi has gotten weak, in the years he’s spent fighting Titans instead of fellow criminals, but he can still do the next part well enough. The knife comes up, twisting out of Leader’s loosened grip, and then deep into the base of Leader’s neck. Levi’s strength is nowhere near what it should be - his arm's still aching from being bound in place for so long, and he almost loses hold of the knife as Leader shudders violently - but in the end he’s able not just to hold on, but to pull the knife free again, leaving the wound he’s made wide open in just the manner he knows from old experience he needs to do.

He’s stopped trying to keep his hold on Leader's arm now, too, and Leader sways backwards. He stopped screaming when Levi stabbed him, but his mouth is still hanging open. Blood sprays from his neck. On top of Levi, Armin’s flopped over to the opposite side, and so most of the blood ends up on Levi instead, the single indignity that Levi is finally able to spare Armin.

Leader manages to swing himself around, lurching towards the others as if to call for help. After only one or two steps his legs give out, and he hits the ground heavily in a rapidly-spreading pool of his own blood. _I never even learned his real name_ , the distant part of Levi thinks.

Red and Ugly just stare, both looking almost as stupefied as Armin. When it’s clear that Leader is beyond helping, their gaze swings up to meet Levi’s. On any other occasion he would barely even entertain a hope of successfully taking on two large and experienced fighters with one small knife and three limbs immobilized, but right now Levi’s already killed once, and he’s nowhere near ready to stop. He’s got it figured out already: He’s going to take care of Red first - the slimy, pathetic, man who’d been disgusted enough to complain the whole time but not disgusted enough to make the others stop, not too disgusted to whine for payment – and then he’ll be able to take his time with Ugly, cutting off his groping fingers one by one and plunging the knife deep into his belly for each time he made Armin take Levi further for his own sick entertainment…

The other two men are still standing there, exchanging glances. Levi waits, using his free arm to pull Armin securely against him and adjusting his grip on the knife that’s now slippery with blood.

“Fuck this,” Red says at last. He takes a step back. “That bastard had some money upstairs, I saw it. Let’s take it and get out of here.” He turns and heads out the door and down the passageway, walking quickly. Ugly follows him.

Levi watches them disappear, heart pounding like a drum. It’s not until the sounds of their footsteps are long gone that he lets himself take a deep breath. Something gives within him, then, and the next thing Levi knows he’s twisting over the side of the chair, vomiting for what feels like forever.

When he finally straightens up, wiping at his mouth with the back of his one good hand – it’s pointless, really, Levi’s hand and the rest of Levi’s body are absolutely filthy with blood, and with everything that’s taken place – he realizes that not only has Armin managed to remain more or less seated on top of Levi, but that Armin’s staring at him, wide-eyed. The dazed look that’s so awfully familiar by now is still there, but at least his attention is clearly directed, which is more than Levi’s seen from him for a while.

Levi says nothing, focuses on breathing normally again. After a moment, Armin reaches out and brushes his fingertips against Levi’s right temple, where Leader’s blood is currently making his hair stick heavily to the side of his face. Levi flinches away automatically, but can’t stop Armin from touching him, still too limited in his movements by the damn chair.

Armin rubs his now-red fingers together curiously, holding his hand mere inches in front of his face as if that’s the only way he can get a good look. Then he raises his head until he’s looking at Levi again, frowning.

“Was it bad?” Armin asks, voice sleepy but concerned. “Did everybody make it?” He starts to turn his head, gazing around the room with unfocused eyes.

Levi’s at an utter loss for words, until it occurs to him that Armin seems to think that he’s just gotten through a particularly bad encounter with some Titans, the first direction his mind would likely go in order to explain the blood. “Yeah,” Levi tells him, voice much weaker than he would like. “Yeah, everyone’s fine.” Out of the corner of his eye, he can see that Leader hasn't moved for a while.

Armin seems satisfied with this. If he realizes that he’s naked in an unfamiliar place, with Levi tied up and covered in blood and a stranger dead on the ground, he gives no sign of it.

“Armin,” Levi says after a few seconds of silence go by. “Can you sit down, on the floor?” He twitches his legs pointedly. It suddenly feels desperately important to have Armin off of his lap, and Levi tries to tell himself that it’s purely for Armin’s comfort.

At first, he’s worried that Armin has faded out once more, but then, for what feels like the millionth time that day, Armin slowly does as he’s told. He pushes himself up, wincing – Levi doesn’t think about it, can’t, or he’ll be sick again – and starts to slide to the ground beside the chair on trembling legs.

“I think I need a medic,” Armin slurs.

“The medic’s coming.” Levi tells him. He should feel relieved, with Armin’s weight finally off him, but now his body feels far too light instead, giddy and horrible. “You’ll be fine, just rest for now.”

“Oh.” Armin sounds overwhelmingly relieved. “Good, I’m so tired…” His voice trails off, and he’s sunk down enough that he’s no longer in Levi’s line of vision.

After a while it occurs to Levi that he should cut through the rest of the ropes and free himself completely, but the ropes are strong and the knife is blunt and Levi’s muscles are suddenly so weak that it’s a chore just to lift the blade, even though he has no idea why, because he hasn’t done anything at _all_ this entire time. He wants to cover himself, but he can’t do that and hold the knife at the same time, and giving up his hard-earned weapon even for a second is unthinkable. He tries to keep himself alert and ready for danger, especially as his earlier burst of bloodlust is slowly overtaken by the practical knowledge that if Red or Ugly decide to come back, he and Armin will almost certainly die, but in the end he fails at that, too.

 

 

He isn't sure whether he passes out or falls asleep, but the next thing Levi knows he’s being jerked awake by the sound of activity somewhere above his head. The torch has burned itself out, and the room is very dark, though there’s a little light coming in from somewhere on the other side of the half-open door. Leader’s corpse is a shadowy lump.

Levi’s first instinct is to grip his knife so hard that he can feel the skin strain over his knuckles, but then he realizes that there are people on the next floor up calling his name.

“ _Hey!_ ” Levi yells, so loudly that the sound comes out broken and harsh. “Hey, down here-“

His voice dies. Something is stirring on the ground nearby.

“Captain Levi?” Armin asks. Levi can’t see his face in the dark, but his voice is high, tight, and terrifyingly lucid.

Levi slumps back in the chair, letting his eyes squeeze shut and his mind go blank.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone's feeling knowledgeable about opiate side effects, I'd really appreciate it if you'd get in touch with me [on tumblr](http://the-naomin.tumblr.com/ask) so I can ask you a few things.


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